A lot of people have been wondering what's been going on with Ecoviate? What's this new Ecoviate app?

Well, I'm going to explain what we have been up to and what's coming in 2015.

Ecoviate was originally just a green-hardware company. We had a few ideas in the environmental space and wanted to focus solely on hardware. As we got a couple of our products very close to market, we realized a sad yet true fact about sustainable-living: there's no real incentive structure for people to live an eco-friendly life. Aside from 'feeling good about yourself' there is no real motivation to live sustainably and buy eco-friendly products. Simply put, consumer sustainability is an externality; the individual pays the upfront cost but then all of society gets the benefit.

This led to a huge problem within our own company: Why would anyone buy an eco-friendly product for the sake of being eco-friendly? There has to be a personal or monetary value associated with it to attract a lot of customers. This is where the Ecoviate app was born. We started building the app to solve this problem of sustainability acting as a consumer externality.

Let me explain what the app does. The Ecoviate app gives users discounts and rewards for living an eco-friendly lifestyle. As you live a more eco-friendly life, you get 'eco-points' which are directly correlated to the amount of carbon emissions you have reduced.

Step 1: (Snap) take a picture or video of something eco-friendly (riding your bike to work, planting a tree, eating meatless for a meal, a beautiful nature scene, etc.)

Step 2: (Post) upload the picture to Ecoviate or to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

Step 3: (Redeem) receive rewards and discounts for living a green life

By using our app you will get a direct monetary benefit for living sustainably whether that be eating organic or spending extra for a green product. Your actions will benefit you as well as society.

Because we use a competitive points system that is directly related to your personal carbon reduction, there are limitless possibilities for expansion (including new reward and incentive programs). We have been working hard on the back-end to sign partnerships with green companies to give their users monetary rewards for choosing their products. Once we launch our own hardware, it will be fully implemented with the app to provide complimentary features that leads to more points which leads to more rewards.

So that's what the app is. What about the hardware?

Well, there is a lot we can tell you and a lot we still cannot tell you. We have been working on the EcoTube and the GreenShields. For the EcoTube, it has a completely new 2-part design that not only reduces your vehicles emissions but also oxygenates the inside of the car (when the windows are rolled up). We have been working with a big-name manufacturer and are getting closer to bringing it to market every single day. For the GreenShields, we have been figuring out our supply-chain and perfecting our design based on a recent pilot program.

So in conclusion, a lot has been going on. Big things are coming in 2015.

My daughter (12 years old) was in the process of creating an app called ECOkindness but learned that your app had basically the same vision. It seems like Ecoviate is no longer available. Can you tell us what happened to the app?